Out of all the frightening things the alicorn had seen, the Everfree forest was on her top five. The girl tripped over a branch and landed on the hard ground with a grunt.
Randy, Thorax, and Sweetie Belle turned to her and Tirek pulled on the chain that he had on her, lifting her back up. The chain that prevented her magic.
Sweetie Belle had a simple rope tied to her because her friend Scootaloo could be killed at any time, even by her own doing.
“Are you okay?” She whispered to the princess once she had caught up and they were walking again.
“I suppose.” Flurry Heart answered bluntly.
Thorax glanced between the two and turned when the younger caught him watching.
Flurry Heart couldn't even look at that changeling. The one that wanted to destroy her. She had no idea why he was here but planned to keep her distance.
“If you don't mind, where are we going?!” Flurry Heart growled to the villains behind her.
“That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?” Sombra said in a dark voice.
The alicorn narrowed her eyes in frustration.
Scootaloo in her mind only knew she had to do what her master said and the world was all white but there was also another faint, very faint voice calling to her. The hypnotized mare heard the other’s voice not often, as if it had started to give up on her but every time after there was a flash of color and then a chorus of little giggles of joy that Scootaloo somehow recognized. But deeper down than she could know, she wanted to wake up and see that sweet, lonely voice.
Applebloom sat all alone in her cell but called out a name.
“Tender Taps!” She cried, her voice filled with grief.
There was no response.
“Tender Taps?” She asked.
There was a sudden clatter and she looked up.
A young brown earth pony with a short light red mane had dropped a tray and was staring at her.
Applebloom felt her heart throb at the sight.
“B-babs…” She whispered softly.
The cousins cried in relief and the other ran to the bars.
“Cous’!” Babs breathed, using her nickname for Applebloom.
The cousins touched hooves and Applebloom suddenly saw a memory she recognized. It was when she, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle had first met Babs, on a train. The mares gasped.
“D-did you-” Applebloom whispered.
“Uh huh…” Babs murmured.
After a few seconds later, they rushed out questions to one another.
“How’re the other cmc? We've been trying to free everypony I could but those girls aren't there!” Babs whispered.
“You and who else?” Applebloom asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You know Diamond Tiara, don't ya? She said something about changing your destiny's when you were young so I trusted her.” Babs answered.
“Diamond Tiara’s here too?!” Applebloom gasped. Babs nodded.
“How did you two get out of your cells?” The mare asked.
Babs didn't say anything but took out a ring of keys.
“B-Babs…” Applebloom whispered, looking at the mare unlocking the cell.
“Babs. How did you get those?!” She snapped.
“They told me they'd keep my big sis’ alive. When they didn't… They questioned me on your girls' location but I'm no rat. So they made me work here. They forced Diamond too.” Babs sighed, opening the door.
“What about Silver Spoon, where's she?” Applebloom asked, stepping out.
Babs sighed. “They needed someone to ensure that Diamond would stay…”
Applebloom didn't need to hear any more.
As the two snuck down the corridor, a dark shadow crawled towards them. The girls backed away slowly when its owner came.
It was a young griffon about their age.
“Gabby, is everypony out?” Babs asked.
The griffin nodded. “Everypony is!” She cried.
Applebloom cocked her head. Weren't griffons supposed to be cranky?
She felt drawn to this creature though like she had been drawn to Tender Taps almost the moment after her sister was gone. As if their time together was to happen in a different place but it had been cut short.
“Er, hi. My name is Gabriella but you can call me Gabby.” The griffon giggled cheerfully.
Applebloom smiled weakly and they shook.
The moment they touched though, Applebloom got flashes of scenes that hadn't even happened.
“I'm getting my cutie mark!” A much younger Gabby squealed, flying off. Seven-year-old Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo and Applebloom herself.
“What she wants, it's not possible.” She squeaked.
They flashed forward to the cmc putting a wooden cutie mark that looked identical to theirs on her saddle bag.
“Wait… Does this mean,” Gabby whispered.
The mare and griffon parted in shock.
“D-did you… See that?” Applebloom breathed.
Gabby hesitantly nodded.
“What were we supposed to see?” Babs asked.
Applebloom shook her head.
“We gotta go. I have absolutely no idea where my friends are.” She sighed.
“Oh, you're okay!” A mare squealed.
Applebloom gasped and felt Diamond Tiara hug her from behind.
“S-so are you!” Applebloom laughed.
The girl turned and hugged her. There was yet another memory and she remembered when Diamond Tiara had stood up for the cmc when her mother had upright been a villain and criticized them for not having cutie marks. Diamond then had said they were friends. Applebloom remembered both the shock and accomplishment she had felt that time, even more so later.
“What the hay…” She muttered under her breath.
“This is weird…” Diamond whispered, looking at the other mares.
“Applebloom!” Tender Taps cried, running in.
The couple hugged as they had many times before he had been captured by evil.
She heard her friends giggle and blushed.
“You two are adorable!” Diamond cried.
Tender gave a nervous laugh and slowly backed away from Applebloom.
“Aw… Show’s over…” Gabby sighed, letting the other two to stifle back laughs.
Applebloom sighed but smiled weakly at the three girls before her. “I-I just can't believe you're all here and what you've all done for my camp… All I can honestly say is, thank you…”
The girls gathered in for a group hug but each had the same vision.
They saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walking, the unicorn tied up.
Sweetie Belle was obviously trapped with her friend not hearing her.
But the important thing was where they were.
The girls looked at each other in shock but now knew where they need to go.
They had been walking for a few minutes and Flurry Heart was bored.
The alicorn turned to face Randy.
“What's your favorite color?” She whispered softly as the wind.
“What?” Randy asked, confused.
“Your favorite color, what is it? We haven't gotten to know each other very well, we've only been traveling and… Laughing, and blushing at each other…” The princess trailed off and blushed as she always did around him.
“But the villains-” Randy started.
“Can't hear us. Sweetie Belle secretly created an invisible bubble of silence so we can talk.” Flurry Heart giggled, winking at Sweetie Belle a bit away.
The unicorn didn't notice but was looking at Scootaloo, praying she'd come back.
“Hm… My favorite color is… Gold.”
Flurry Heart giggled. “Gold?! You really are a prince!”
“Well, princess, what's your favorite color?” Randy asked, looking at her.
“Hm… I like green. Like a forest. We don't see those anymore…” And it was like his beautiful eyes…
“Hm. How do you know all those spells?”
Flurry Heart blinked. “What?”
“You say you woke up a couple months ago, not knowing your name or your family, yet you know how to walk, talk, fly and cast the most powerful spells I've ever seen, how do you know that?”
The alicorn hadn't thought of that.
“I… I don't know…”
Randy saw it bothered her and moved on.
“So… Do you want to know why I never told you about my father being impersonated by a changeling until you figured it out?”
The girl nodded.
They were interrupted by a dark voice.
“Here we are,” Chrysalis said.
The children's silence bubble broke in Sweetie Belle’s shock of where they were.
It was the tree of harmony.